Heartwood Charter School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
301200893
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Petaluma, CA, USA
Phone
4153281020
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,924,366
Expenses
$9,751,201
Assets
$4,888,458
Liabilities
$1,968,418

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARK PUCCINELLI (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHANIE FELTON-PRIESTNER (Executive Dir.): $169,601 total reported compensation
  • HEATHER DEYDEN (ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS): $142,479 total reported compensation
  • KIT MAYBERRY (CERT SUPPORT TEACH): $141,868 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of heartwood charter school is to provide a supportive independent study learning environment in which students may choose a number of paths inspired by the whole child approach of public waldorf education, including the options of spending part of their week in a group instructional environment or home study with a strong classic public waldorf approach, or designing a more independent whole child, home study option.

What it reported doing in 2024

Heartwood charter school is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation whose goal is to graduate students who are proficient in all core subjects, well-prepared to pursue further academic and personal goals, and motivated to make positive, ethical and creative contributions to their world.heartwood charter provides a homeschool program or a group instructional program for grades k-12.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 99% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.6%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 93.2%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.7%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.8%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 42.4% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 35.5% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 36.9% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.6% of revenue deployed · 93.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $170K · 11 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $148K reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.